Waterman adopted its version of the lever-filling
system, pioneered by Sheaffer, in 1915. The standard-sized pen, as seen above, carried a
#2 nib and sported nickel silver trim; gold filled and even solid gold trim was also
offered, and pens were sold with and without clips. Most commonly they are found in chased
or smooth black hard rubber; red and black woodgrain, Ripple, and mottled hard rubber were
also offered, as was plain red hard rubber (Cardinal).

Waterman hard rubber lever-fillers are handsome, solidly
built pens with excellent nibs. Their design varied but little during a production run of
some twenty years, and spare parts are readily available.

The most common Waterman lever-fillers are the
52, as seen above, and the 52 1/2V, shown below. Larger pens include the 54 (basically, a
52 with a larger nib), 55, 56, and 58; the last numeral denotes the nib size, and hence
the size of the pen itself. The suffix "V" indicates a short pen;
"1/2", a slender. The earliest Waterman lever fillers used a different number
code adapted from the eyedropper series, followed by "PSF"